Under the Bridge
by Ephainygrey
Summary: Sequel to Last Kiss! We pick up after Jade and Tori's wedding and everyone has come home from a well-deserved rest. As everyone gets back into the swing of things, new problems arise as Jade is faced with her family.
1. Chapter 1

**Sequel to Last Kiss! We pick up after Jade and Tori's wedding and everyone has come home from a well-deserved rest. As everyone gets back into the swing of things, new problems arise as Jade is faced with her family.**

**I do not own Victorious or receive any money for the story.**

**Chapter 1  
>Under the Bridge<br>JADE**

"Tori, where do you want this last bag?" I ask my wife as I walk into the house. I look around and notice that not only is Tori nowhere to be found, but mom is gone too. "Hey Tori, where do you…fuck it, she can pick it up off the floor when she comes back." I drop the bag in the middle of the living room and head back out to get my two bags that I took for a three week vacation.

"Jade, I would pick that up and take it to your room. Better to do it wrong than not at all," Dad said, as he too was hauling in all of Mom's bags.

"I don't get it. We left for three weeks, not three years. Why the hell did they need all of this shit? I mean, Tori brought six bags, plus a carry-on, and only opened two of them. Did she think her other clothes were going to get lonely?" I complained as I followed Dad up the stairs, only to find Tori standing at the top.

"Oh look, Jade, it's your wife," Dad said as he kissed Tori on the cheek as he walked by.

"Jade, please take that bag to our room. And then you can rest if you want…you can even take a nap," Tori told me with a crazy, sick smile.

I took the bag into our room and walked back out into the hallway, only to be pulled into Trina's room. Dad grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me as he cried, "Don't do it, Jade! The 'rest' is a trap! They all do it. They all say we can 'rest,' but they don't mean it. You are married now, you will never 'rest' again. And if she tells you to take a nap, then RUN! You will never wake up!" I didn't know what to do, he really believed what he was saying, but all I could do was laugh. "Believe me, Jade, when you said until death do us part…she has started to find a way. Men don't die before their wives because they're older, they die because their wives found a way to the loop hole." He kept looking over my shoulder as he told me this, to see if one of the three married women in the house were coming.

I started laughing harder, then I composed myself, giving him a raised eyebrow. "You know Dad, this talk may work on Beck, but I'm a girl, too. So I think it's a little different with Tori and me." I patted him on the shoulder, giving him a smile and turning to leave.

"Jade, where the hell are you? Do you think you can sleep all day while Mom and I carry in the rest of this stuff?" Tori yelled from what sounded like the driveway.

I turned to Dad with fear in my eyes. "Oh, shit. My life is over. What have I done?"

"You married the woman of your nightmares. Welcome to the club. I've been a member since 1982. We accept all color, creed, and sex here. Benefits are sex for at least two years, but after two years you're on your own. I suggest getting magazines. They are the easiest to hide and to stand by your wife. Now go. You don't want her to call again. And Godspeed." He held out his hand to shake mine, and I turned and ran out of the room and down the stairs as fast as I could. I know that Tori is not like what Dad said. She wasn't, but hell I'm scared.

I get out to the car and take the bags from both Tori and Mom and haul them inside. I lug them upstairs and put them away, then run back down to the car to get whatever else is left. As I'm running through the living room, I see Dad sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels, with his feet up and his shoes off. Giving the back of his head a glare, I go back out to the car and gather all the trash. Carrying in all the trash, I walk up to Dad and pour it over his head, starting with the half drank fast food cups. Dad jumped up and went to yell at me, but I stopped him when I pointed at Mom. "Sorry, Dad, I didn't want Mom to catch you sitting around. I didn't want to see you in trouble. I know you want to do everything that…what was it that you called Mom…oh yeah, that's right…the woman of your nightmares…told you to do. Anyway, you better get to it. Don't want her mad, and Godspeed." I grabbed a very shocked Tori's hand and drug her upstairs. As we made it to our room, we heard Mom yelling at Dad.

"What's all the yelling about?" Trina asked as she came out of the hall bathroom.

I smiled as I was closing the bedroom door. "Mom is finding a loop hole." Then I closed the door.

**Tori**

I have no idea what had come over Jade, to pour trash all over Dad. But whatever it was certainly has gotten him into doghouse, big time. Mom didn't stop yelling at him for an hour, and then she didn't talk to him for the rest of the night. Jade took Trina and I out for dinner. After a delicious meal, we came home and bought back some for both Mom and Dad. Jade and Dad just exchanged a look, so I know he tried to pull something over on her. He used to do that to Trina and I when we were younger. And I always fell for it. I used to think it was because Trina was so stuck on herself that she couldn't be bothered with such silly pranks, but he was my dad, and I would hang on every word he would say when I was younger. So he was able to pull good pranks on me all the time. He met his match with Jade, though. She really got him back for whatever he did to her. I tried to ask her, but she just told me it was between Dad and her. I didn't push it. Jade had never had an inside joke with her father, so who am I to take this from her and her dad?

Later that evening, Jade was asleep and I was on the computer, looking at houses. I know that Mom and Dad don't want us to move out until school is done, but I just really want to start my life with Jade. I want to leave school at the end of the day and say that me and my wife are going home, and not mean my parent's house. I want to walk into our own home and make dinner in our own kitchen, make love in our own bedroom. Not the bedroom I grew up in. And I don't want to have to make dinner for five people, and on some nights, six. I want to have my family, and I want to have my wife. Just not under the same roof.

I am still looking at houses when Trina walks in with tears running down her face. "Trina, what's wrong? Is it the baby?" I jump up off the bed, in the process waking Jade up.

"No, it's Beck. He sent me this pic, and it's horrible." She handed me the phone and I dropped it on the bed as soon as I looked at the picture.

"What?" Jade asked, picking up the phone, and after a quick glance, started laughing. She looked at the picture again and laughed harder, holding her sides. "Oh, man. Dad has to see this. He is going to piss himself." She took the phone with the picture of Beck dressed up like a zombie in drag, blowing a kiss to his phone with her as she hurried off, looking for Dad.

"Trina, it's just makeup. Beck isn't really a zombie, so why are you still crying?" I asked her after I got over the shock of seeing a drag queen zombie.

"He said he had a main part, not a bit part. That means he lied to me," Trina said, with fresh tears falling. I looked back to the doorway to see my dad and Jade standing there, with death in their eyes.

Jade took the phone from her pocket and called Beck's number as she paced in the hallway, with Dad standing by to take over if need be. "No, Beck, it's Jade," she replied to his cheerful greeting. "So, Trina just showed us your picture. So, is this your part? A drag queen zombie? So you will be known for the time that you not only lied to your wife of four weeks, but a dead ass fucker?" She was still pacing as she was talking to him, then stopped and listened hard. She smirked and started laughing. I have known Jade to get mad enough that she would chuckle, but this was uncalled for. She handed the phone to Trina and composed herself. "He didn't lie. They asked him to dress up like a zombie because, at some point, everyone may become one. It's a type of screen test. He just didn't think that they would make him a drag queen, and thought it was funny and wanted to share it with Trina. However, Beck being, well, Beck, he didn't think any further than his ego, and sent a picture before calling his very pregnant wife." Jade then started to laugh again. Dad joined in, and I sighed. Yes, I want my own house.


	2. One is the Loneliness Number

**Chapter 2  
>One is the Loneliness Number<br>Tori**

Being back at school was a nice distraction from my need to find a new place to live. I needed to find a place where I could be happy, and if that wasn't going to be at home, then I was going to make it school. Jade had, of course, become very aware of my unhappiness. She had tried to find many ways to change my current mood. The only thing she did not try, of course, was ask me what was wrong.

I keep telling myself that I shouldn't tell her, because I don't want to take her from the only family she knows. However, when I look in the mirror, I see a stubborn jack ass looking back. I really don't know if it's me wanting to save her from hurting, or if I really don't want to leave.

I know I'm scared to be on my own. Afraid that I will have some kind of relapse and lose my mind, but I know that Jade would be there to watch over me. So why is this so hard for me? To just tell her that I want to move out? Why do I feel like I have to hide behind Jade's family problems? There is just so much wrong with that on so many levels, but I just can't find the way to be honest with her.

Jade and I walked into the school hand and hand. Our first stop is a short walk to Jade's locker. While Jade rummaged in her locker for her school books for the first few classes, I could feel eyes burning holes in the back of my head. I turn around to find a group of students staring at us and whispering to each other. Blinking, I turned back to Jade and whispered to her, "Babe, there is a group of kids staring at us. What do we do?"

"Don't let them bother you. They're just…" She was cut off by a loud voice.

"Don't you have anything better to do than stand around staring and pointing?" Jade and I turned to the voice to find Sinjin yelling at the kids in the hall. "Didn't you mommies ever tell you that it's not nice to stare? Fuck, it's Jade and Tori! So what? They're married!" He moved himself so he was between the group of kids and us, then at the top of his voice he screamed, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" As the group scattered like the wind, he turned to us and smiled and gave us a little bow, then he was gone.

"What the fuck was that?" Jade looked at me with wide eyes, and I just shook my head in disbelief.

"Was that Sinjin?" Andre asked, coming up to us as we walked to my locker.

"Yep," I said, opening the door that said 'Make It Shine' on it.

"What got into him?" he asked, leaning against the locker with a yawn.

"Don't know, but it was fun to watch," Jade said, taking my books as I moved around some other things. I really need to clean this thing out. I was taking out a new notebook to put in my bag when a house buyers guide fell out onto the floor. "Tori, what is this?" Jade asked, picking it up and looking at it.

"Oh it's…it's nothing, really…I was just looking, that's all," I stammered as I tried to take from her, but she pulled it back.

"You were looking? Tori, this is a catalog for houses. So what exactly were you looking for?" she asked, looking at me with hard eyes.

"Bushes?" I answered weakly.

"Vega," she growled.

"Okay. I was looking for a new place for us. I was looking for a place where we can start our lives together as a married couple. Not with our parents and sister in the same house." I turned to look at Andre and saw that Robbie and Cat had joined him. "Don't get me wrong. I love all of you, but Jade and I need to be together now as one," I said with a sad smile.

"Its all good, baby girl," Andre said with a smile.

"Yeah, no problem here, sis," Robbie stated and put his hand on my shoulder, giving it an affectionate squeeze.

"I get it, I really do." Cat laid her head on Robbie's shoulder, smiling at him. "One reason Sam and I got a bigger place."

Jade was looking through the catalog as I was talking to the others and not really paying attention to us. "Well, having all of you saying its cool is one thing, and it looks like Jade likes the idea, but what about Mom and Dad?" I grabbed Jade's arm to guide her while she read and we all started to walk to our first class. Thankfully, for me and Jade, that was study hall.

"You know, I really don't understand why Mom and Dad don't want you two to move out? Is it because you two are married or what?" Robbie asked.

"I think it's because of the problems they had after the accident," Andre said while opening the door so Jade didn't walk into it. She didn't acknowledge this, her nose still buried in the guide. So I smiled thanks to him.

"That's not fair," Cat said, and we all stopped to look at her. Jade looked up from the catalog and Andre let the door close.

"What do you mean, Cat?" Robbie asked.

"It's not fair that Mom and Dad want you and Jade to stay there because you were in that accident. I was in the same accident, and no one ever asked me if I had any problems with the aftermath of it. No one ever took the time to see if I had any problems, like PTSD or something like that. Robbie never asked Lane to help him find a way to talk to me. No, no one did anything, so what makes you and Jade so fucking special that you have Mom and Dad falling all over you?" Cat said, while she backed away from all of us.

"Cat, what are you talking about? We all made sure you were okay. I mean, Andre took you to your physical therapy appointments and…and…" I turned and looked at the others to see if they were going to join in, but no one did. They were all too busy looking at their shoes, or the posters on the wall. Anywhere but at Cat and me.

"That's right Tori, after therapy was over, I was forgotten about. If it wasn't for Sam, then I wouldn't have gotten the help I needed," she said, looking down at the floor.

"But you are getting help," Andre asked, concern in his voice. Cat shoved him in the shoulder, sending him stumbling back into the door.

"That's not the point!" Cat yelled as tears streamed down her face.

"The point," interrupted Jade, "is another family member was sick. And Cat was forgotten. Again. Like she was with her birth family. We have been no better than the family we took her from," Jade said as she put the catalog into her back pocket and took Cat's and my hands. "Come on, we're going home to talk to Mom. This shit stops here." We walk to Lane's office. Jade dropped my hand and knocked at the door. When he answered, she told us to stay there and she went inside.

The drive home was silent, not even the radio was playing. Jade drove, watching the road carefully, and I sat in the front seat, looking out the window. Every now and then we heard Cat sniffle, and I passed her back a Kleenex. I felt so bad, knowing that I let her suffer like that. It was worse because I knew what she had gone through with her birth family. The three of us should have been closer than we were before the accident, but for some reason, I had pushed Cat away. She was the one that was in the car with me, she almost died that night, too. So why was I pushing her away like that? The bigger question is, when did I start pushing? Now I have to question why Mom and Dad never saw her pain? Why didn't they find out if she was okay? Was it just enough for them to say they pulled her into this family, and didn't think she needed the love that went with it? Damn it, do we all think that a necklace is going to make you feel wanted? "Fuck." I slammed my hand on the dash and shook my head.

Jade reached over and placed a hand on my leg and Cat…Cat put a loving hand on my shoulder. She is the one that is hurting and she reaches out to comfort me.

Jade pulled into her spot on the driveway and we got out of the car. She walked both of us up to the door with one hand on the small of our backs. After escorting us up to the door, Jade opened the door, ushering both of us in before following behind. "I'm going to go talk to Mom. You two stay down here," Jade ordered as she started for the stairs.

"Okay, but I think we should all go," I stated. Jade walked back to me, kissing me quickly and smiled.

"No, I'll handle this now. Just let it go." She turned and ran up the stairs before I had a chance to say anything else, not that I would.

"You know, I came here because of Jade," Cat said, walking into the kitchen.

"What?" I asked, sounding dazed by the quick turnaround Jade had just pulled on me.

"Yeah, I was really upset about how my parents were treating me. Do you remember my seventeenth birthday?" she asked me, and I nodded. I had been with her on the phone that night.

"They didn't. They told me they were going to go visit my brother. On my birthday." She disappeared into the fridge, bumping and clumping and came up holding a plastic bottle. "Jade found out and brought me here and told me to wait on the couch for Mom. Jade told me later that she was waiting in the bathroom and when Mom came home she went upstairs after she saw I was in good hands." Cat told me as she came back into the living room with her bottle of water and sat on the couch next to me.

"You weren't only one in good hands that night," I said with a smug grin.

"What?" Cat asked, twirling the water bottle in her hands.

"Jade came up to my room, told me that you had to talk to Mom about something so she was giving you guys some space. Well, if you remember, your birthday was the day I fell off the stage in the Black Box doing one of Sikowitz's crazy drive-by exercises and hurt my back. I was trying to put some Icy Hot on my back but couldn't reach the place that hurt. So after letting me dance around for a few minutes looking like a fool, Jade pushed me down on the bed and rubbed my back. One thing lead to another and we ended up making out on my bed," I told her and for some reason I was blushing.

"You told us that you guys didn't hook up until you were out of the hospital," Cat said accusingly.

"We didn't hook up that night. We just made out and then stopped before it got too hot and heavy. Cat, believe me, neither one of us wanted to hurt Beck. It just happened. It was as much as a surprise to us as it was to you guys," I told her.

"Bullshit, Tori. You two had been doing this crazy weird mating dance for years. We all saw it and it was just a matter of time before you two gave in. Beck was just fooling himself, thinking he could stop it from happening." Yes, it was true that Jade and I had always had this connection, but Jade never cheated on Beck. At least I don't think she did.

"Honestly Cat, I don't know when they broke up. She told me that she was coming from Beck's the night of the accident, but she never told me why she was there. I don't know if that was when they broke up or if it was before. Hell, half the time they were dating they weren't together."

"That's true. They were a cute couple when they didn't talk. They were too much alike and now they are brother and sister. Did you know they were engaged at one time?" Cat asked me.

"Yes, I did know that. Weird. I guess Beck was destined to marry his sister." We both laughed.

"Is it strange that we see each other as siblings but fall in love with each other anyway?" she asked, playing with her finger nails. The soft clicking of her nails made my back itch for some reason. I'll have to ask her to scratch it when we're done talking.

"I guess. But it's not gross in any way, because we all come from different parents," I said as I watched her.

"We started out as nine siblings and now we have two married couples and one engaged couple," Cat said, still playing with her hand, with a faint smile on her lips.

"Yes, and we have…wait, what?" Did she just say an engaged couple? Is she and Sam engaged? "Cat? What?" I sputtered.

"Yeah, Sam asked me last night," she looked up at me with a shy smile. I bounced in my seat and let out a girly squeal. Good thing Jade wasn't here, she would tease me mercilessly if she had heard that.

"She did? That's great! That's…great, right? I mean, we are happy, right?" I asked because she had not reacted to my excitement.

"Yeah, we're happy. I'm just still taking it all in. I mean, Sam had always said she would never get married, but now we are." Wow, I don't know Sam very well, but she definitely does not seem like the marrying type. But then again, neither did Jade, and here we are.

"Well, she has turned over a new leaf there, kiddo. So how does she feel about kids?"

"Damn, Tori. Moving pretty fast, don't you think? She has been great with Robin. True, she isn't a baby, but believe me she has a lot of issues. She also has been great with Robbie. He blames himself because he couldn't protect her from their parents. Sam has been working with him to see it wasn't his fault. He didn't do those terrible things to Robin. So yes, I think she would be a great mother. But I don't think I would be," she confessed in a small voice.

"Cat, why? You are the most loving person I know, and you take great care of the kids you babysit, and Robin. Not to mention, you have the best collection of Disney movies a kid could ask for," I tell her.

"I know you all think I would be perfect with kids because I'm so much like one, and that's wonderful. The problem is, I have no idea how to be a loving parent because I didn't grow up with parents like you and Trina did. Yes, Mom and Dad took me in, but Tori, the damage has already been done. I just wish you could see that. Beck, Robbie, Robin, Sam, Jade, and I come from broken, abusive, unloving homes where one or all of us have been beaten, told we didn't matter, or just downright forgotten. So to bring a child into this world scares the hell out of us. I can understand the fear Beck feels when he thinks about becoming a father. His father never wanted him, so he told him every day that he was a loser and he would never amount to anything and now he is bringing a child into this world with no guidance from his father," she said with as much passion as she could. I wanted to cry and yell and hit something. Not only for the pain that I know they all have gone through, including my wife, but because Cat has just shown me yet again that I am an outsider in my own family.

"I will never know how it feels to grow up in a home like you all did and I will never know how it feels to have parents that don't care, but I do know how it feels to be told that I'm naïve, and to be treated like an outsider in my own family." I wanted to take her and shake her as hard as I could. Is this a learned behavior to treat people like shit, and why haven't I seen it before? "You all keep telling me that you didn't grow up in a home like Trina and me, but look around Cat. The same people you keep throwing in my face are the ones that opened their home and heart to you. So I'm sorry I don't have the right creds to be in your little club, but please let me reassure you, that you did to be in mine," I snarl at her and throw the half full water bottle across the room in the direction of the piano. The bottle struck the piano's sheet music rack and popped up and spun up end over end, breaking the window behind the piano. We both jumped at the sound of the plate glass breaking.

"Victoria Dawn Vega, what were you thinking?" Mom yelled from her place on the stairs next to Jade, not far from where I threw the bottle.

Not taking my eyes off Cat, I answered her. "That I'm tired of being treated like the family idiot." I walked past Jade and Mom on the stairs, not looking back to see how upset everyone was. As I reached the landing at the top of the stairs, I heard Jade's phone ring. She cursed under her breath as she dug into her jeans pocket and fished out her phone. She glanced at the display and turned to where I stood, watching.

"It's my dad," she said.


	3. Symphony of Destruction

**A/N I do not own Victorious or receive money for this story or any story I have written on this site. I do not own the title to the songs that are named in this story or any ring tones that may be used for the entertainment uses for this story. **

**Chapter 3**

**Symphony of Destruction**

**Jade**

Mom and I came downstairs to get Cat and Tori, only to find them in a very deep, heated discussion. I started to walk down the stairs when I was stopped by Tori's water bottle whipping by my face and into the window. I turned to see my wife and Cat in a stand-off, glaring at each other. Tori stormed over to the stairs and stomped up them, only to stop and turn back to look at me when she heard the ring tone I had assigned for only one person.

'_They hide in the dark so you can't see their tears_

_They hide in the light so you can't see their fears _

_Forgive and forget, all the while_

_Love and pain become one in the same_

_In the eyes of a wounded child'_

I looked up from my phone to the landing to see Tori's fierce glare giving way to a questioning look. I'm sure my face was twisted between confusion and misery while my ring tone continued.

'_It's all so confusing_

_this brutal abusing_

_They blacken your eyes,_

_Then apologize_

_Be daddy's good girl_

_and don't tell mommy a thing_

_be a good little boy and get a new toy_

_Tell grandma you fell off the swing'_

"It's my dad." I looked back down at my phone. I looked at the displayed ASSHOLE, not believing that it could be him. I haven't talked to him since the day my mother kicked him out of the house. "Shit, what does he want?"

"For you to answer the phone would be my guess," Tori said as she turned and walked up the stairs, not giving me a second glance. Obviously, she was still pissed about whatever that fight was about. I step off the stairs and walk toward Cat.

"I don't get it. What did I do?" I said to the scowling redhead. She walked passed me, shoving me aside as she stalked toward the door.

"You came from a broken home, and Little Miss Perfect can't handle it," Cat snarled as she walked through the door. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to see Mom giving me a weak smile.

"You go talk to Tori and I'll go talk to Cat. Later we'll talk about you calling your father back," Mom said, shaking her head as she walked to the door.

I stood outside my bedroom door, thinking that at this moment, I would rather be anywhere but here. I took a deep breath, raising my hand to knock on the door when a sleepy voice behind me said my name and made me jump. I turn to see Trina leaning against the door frame. She pulled her robe tighter around herself and yawned before she started talking again.

"What is going on? I'm woke with the crashing and the stomping and now the slamming." Trina says from her bedroom door. "I sleep because I'm making life. Oy Vey!"

Great. First Cat and Tori get into a fight, I'm about to enter the hornet's nest, and Trina has turned into Mel Brooks. "Mazel Tov." What else could happen to make this day any better? I open the door to find Tori sitting at the desk looking at a framed picture with a sad look on her face.

"What was that all about down there?" I ask, closing the door behind me. I cross the room slowly, wondering if she was going to throw something or start crying. She didn't turn around, and I noticed her right leg was bouncing with nervous energy. I couldn't quite tell what picture she was looking at, so I walked behind her chair and peeked over her shoulder.

Tori sat gazing at a picture of all of us. It looks to be from a time from when Beck and I were still dating. Funny how much you can tell from a picture though. It was a picture of all of us sitting around our lunch table, Beck and me sitting next to each other, and Andre and Tori across from us with Trina in the middle. Cat and Robbie were sitting in front. I was looking over Beck's shoulder at Tori and she was doing the same with Andre, looking back at me. You could see the love we had for each other even back then. I had not paid too much attention to this picture in a while, so when I really looked closer at the picture, I could see Beck and Trina looking at each other as well, with the same loving eyes as me and Tori. Wow, the things I missed when I just didn't care to look.

"This is one of my favorite pictures," Tori told me with a smile. "It was one of the times that we were all together and happy. Funny, how we all looked at the people that we really wanted to be with. Look at Cat, at how she is looking at the person taking the picture." She pointed to Cat and I looked but I just shook my head. "That was the day that Sam came to Hollywood Arts for lunch and Cat begged her to take this picture." I had forgotten about that. But leave it to my wife to remember the little things that would make someone happy.

"You know babe, Cat was right. We did forget about her, and she has all the right to be furious with us. But I ask again, what that was all about down there?" Tori put the picture down with a small sigh, and got up from the desk, turning to me. She leaned back on the desk and crossed her legs at the ankles. She looked off to her right and after a moment, looked back to me.

"I don't really know where it all started. We stared talking about her and Sam getting married, and then motherhood." I made a surprised noise. Tori nodded to me to confirm what she had just said and continued. "And then she said she wouldn't be a good mom. Of course, I told her she would, and she freaked out on me. She told me that I would be a good mom, because I had a mom that was always there for me, and I don't know how it feels to come from a home like you guys did. That Trina and I were lucky. That pissed me off. I am so tired of every time one of you don't like what I say, you throw in my face that I came from a good home with loving parents. The same loving parents that see every single one of you as their kids, but when something doesn't go right, Trina and I are the goody-goodies that had it all. Well, guess what? We didn't have it all. We didn't get everything we ever wanted. Not even close. Look around this room, at the things that are mine. I had to work for these things. Daddy didn't just hand it over because he was trying to make up for not being there. Mommy didn't just give me money because she was at work all the time. No, Trina and I had to find summer jobs and make the money ourselves for the things we wanted. True, Trina did get a lot for her Birth Week, but I didn't. I worked, and worked hard. So you guys can stop treating me like I am some spoiled little brat that has everything handed to her on a silver fucking platter." Tori then picked up her phone and turned it on. I stepped forward and took it out of her hand, tossing it onto the bed. Tori's eyes went wide and her lips compressed into a thin line. I knew I had to nip this in the bud or I was about to take the worst verbal beating of my life.

"I have never treated you like a spoiled brat, and I never once thought you had everything handed to you. How dare you stand there and say those things about us? Not all of us see you two like that. In fact, Cat was the only one to say anything at all, and that was because she is hurting. Dammit Tori, Cat has lived her whole life in the shadow of her brother and his illness. Her parents would drop everything. Just run off to make sure he was okay, and didn't look twice at her. In fact, she was born because there was a chance that she could help him. Donating organs, tissue, blood, whatever. And when they found out that it wouldn't work, Cat was shit canned. The only reason she ever had a chance to go to Hollywood Arts was because her Grandmother saw her as a person and not a tool, and is paying for it. Now we turned our backs on her, just like her birth family did, and you know that has to hurt ten times worse. With her birth family, that is all she knew. But with us, we made a promise. We gave her hope and then we kicked her in the teeth. Tori, there was three of us in that accident, and only two of us are being helped." I pointed to her phone on her pillow. "So who are you going to call?" She looked back to me with a silly grin. "That question is forever ruined, isn't it?" We both smiled, but then she looked back at her phone again.

"I was going to call Cat, but I don't know what to say to her." All the anger had left her frame. She wasn't sad, wasn't crying, but her face was a study of pain. She'd not shown such pain since before her wounds had healed. I ached in sympathetic pain, but I knew she would feel better soon.

"Don't bother. Mom is talking to her. When she stormed out of here, she didn't take her bag, and I drove, so she isn't going far. Mom followed her outside to talk." I took Tori's hand and gently pulled her off her desk and into me. "Babe, you have to get over this feeling that we look down on you for coming from a good home." I sat her down on the bed and curled down next to her. "Let me tell you something. If thought this was some sort of messed up family, I would have never directed the others to Mom or Dad," I told her, and she gave me a look that told me that I had to go on. "Tori, honey, I was the one who brought all of them here. Cat: when she was so upset, when Robbie and I found her living in the school after her family moved away without her. I left her on the couch crying so Mom would find her. Robbie: I put out on the patio by the pool so Mom would find him, and waited with him until she saw him and brought him inside. Andre: I brought to Mom's office and waited for him in the waiting room while he talked about his grandmother, and Beck: I dropped off so he could talk to both Mom and Dad." I counted off on my fingers as I told her what I did to help them. "I also talked to Dad about Robin before Robbie did, and made sure everyone was out of the house so they had enough time to make a plan of attack. So if I thought you were just some spoiled brat, then I would have never trusted your parents with my near and dear, because until you, they were all I had," I said with deep feeling.

"I just hope this fight won't hurt Cat and I. I also hope that she can forgive us for not seeing past our own noses, and that we do care about her." To add to the many other talents Tori has, I would have to say that worrying is right up there with her singing. This girl can worry so much I fear that she will get an ulcer before she is even twenty.

"Look. Let's go downstairs and see if Mom and Cat are back inside. We can also make lunch for everyone…including Mel Brooks." I chuckled at the look she gave me and told her about my encounter with Trina in the hallway. By the time we made it to the kitchen, Tori was laughing at Trina, of course. We had finished making lunch by the time Mom and Cat came back in and asked them to join us. We all talked about what was going to happen for Cat next, and how we as a family would be helping her. Trina didn't like that the fight happened in the first place and accused Tori for starting the whole thing. At this point I was going to say something to Trina when Mom spoke up.

"Okay, I have had it with all of this fighting today. Now what has happened between Tori and Cat is their business, none of yours Katrina Ann Oliver. As for this fighting, it stops now." Mom yelled as she sat at the table, pointing a finger at all of us.

"I wasn't the one to break the window, so why am I getting yelled at?" Trina pouted.

"Oh, get over yourself, Trina," Tori snarled back.

Mom stood up, scratching the chair across the floor as she did it. Slamming her hand down hard on the table, making all of our drinks spill, she thundered at us, "I said I had enough of this fighting. Now shut the hell up, before I start knock your heads together." We all snapped our mouths closed, even if we weren't talking. "Now Trina, take your ass upstairs and get ready for your doctor's appointment. As for the rest of you, work this out and start playing nice. Like it or not, Tori, we all messed up here and now it's time to pay the piper."

**A/N The title Symphony of Destruction belongs to Megadeth. Jade's ring tone is part of Hell is for Children and belongs to Pat Benatar.**


	4. Family Portrait

**A/N I don't own Victorious. I don't receive money for any writing done on this site.**

**Chapter 4**

**Family Portrait **

**Holly**

Cat was standing outside, talking to Sam, asking her to come get her. She had her back to me. "No, Sam, I never want to see them again. I don't need them, and it's obvious that they don't need me." I heard her saying as I came outside and stood by the door. "I don't care what you think, you don't have to deal with them every day. You can sit at home doing nothing while I'm at school, watching those two make everyone feel sorry for them. Then Little Miss Priss wants to fix everyone. She can't be happy with the way we are, she has to make us just like her. Didn't Hitler die? So why is he here in Hollywood masquerading as a teenage lesbian girl?" Cat said into her phone, still not looking my way.

"Alright Cat, that's enough." She jumped as I spoke. "I know you're pissed, but you don't have to put your sister in the same category as Hitler for Christ's sake." I said, walking to her with my hands on my hips. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I love you too. See you at home…I will." She ended the call. "Sam said she loves you and will be by to help Dad this weekend." She shoved her phone into her pocket and tried to walk away from me, but I grabbed her arm and pointed to the bench outside the front door.

"Cat, this isn't going to go away unless you talk to one of us. And we all saw that Tori is out of the question on talking, so do you think I can take a stab at it? I have a few years of training in the field of motherly listening," I tell her.

She looks around like she was looking for someone before looking down at her feet. She shrugs and played with her hands. "I love Tori. And Jade and I have been friends since the third grade. But I just don't belong here. You and Dad have made it more than clear that you want to help us, but not all of us need help," Cat says, making air quotes around help. "I don't need a mom and dad telling me what to do and filling my days with broken promises, and I sure the hell don't need a fake family to join in on the fun. So if you want to play house with the others, so be it. Fine by me. But I have done just fine on my own. I don't need another set of parents to kiss the wounds they put on me." Cat looks to the side, like she sees someone standing there, but then shrugs it off.

I wanted to yell at her and let her know how much that hurt, but she was hurting already and the last thing that Cat needed was another person telling her that she was wrong for feeling the way she does.

I took a deep breath and thought about how to put my words so I would not hurt her anymore. But I will also find a way to put her in her place. "Cat, you may feel like you don't need help, and that's fine. I'm not going to harp on you and tell you that you're wrong. I will be here for you when and if you feel like you ever do need help for anything. You need to know that you are a very important part of this family, and you do belong here as much as any of the others do. I love every one of you kids, and I would do anything for you, but be rest assured that I will not stand here and be talked to the way you just did. I have not once gone out of my way to hurt you, young lady, and I will not be treated like I have. Now, if you have anything you would like to talk about, I will be more than happy to listen to you, but remember that even if you don't want to see me as your Mom, then you better see me as your elder and respect me as such." She flinched from the steel in my voice, and I saw an apologetic look cross her face. Then she looks to the bushes and does a small wave of her hand and snaps her head back to face me. I wasn't quite sure what was going on here, but if I had to guess I would say Cat was starting to hallucinate. I'm about to ask her what's in the bushes when she started in on a rant.

"Do you how it feels to live in a home where you are not wanted? That when you bring home a report card with straight A's it's just thrown aside, because your brother had done something trivial that you had done when you were five? And he is four years older than you. Have you ever lain in bed and wished that you just didn't wake up the next day? I have, when I was six. You knew when your parents were taking you to the doctor, it was to make you feel better. When mine took me, it was to make my brother better. Your parents were your keepers, I was my brother's." Cat told me things like it were out of a Hollywood movie, but I knew it was true.

"What can we do to help you feel like you belong? Cat, I am so sorry you feel like we never cared for you, but sweetheart, that is just not the case. We all love you very much," I tell her with tears in my eyes. I just cannot see how people can treat their children like this. Having a child, just to save the first? Don't they see that every child is a blessing?

Cat twitched like she is shaking off the cold. "I was born to be a tool to help my brother. Then they found out that I couldn't help him. I wasn't a right match or something, so I was cast aside. Then my Nana put me in Hollywood Arts, because she thought I would have fun and find good friends; she wasn't wrong. I did make some really good friends, and I was having the time of my life. Until that night I got into the car with Tori and everything changed. I was in a terrible car accident that almost killed Tori, and here again I wasn't able to help. Jade had to pull me out of the car. I was tested to see if I was the right blood type, and I wasn't a match. But Robbie was. He saved Tori's life. Jade saved her in the car, and Robbie saved her in the hospital, and Beck saved her on the road, but I wasn't a match. I couldn't save anyone. I am nothing. I'm just not the right match, I don't belong." Cat was shaking and waving at the bushes like she was telling someone or something to stay where it was. She was crying, and so was I, but then it hit me. Yes, she was the right match. I hoped that if I told her, whatever was bothering her at this moment would leave her alone.

"Cat, you do belong dear. If it wasn't for you, Robin would be in some state foster home somewhere. The judge even said that you were a perfect match. You, Cat, saved Robin. With all the work you did before the hearing, and the paperwork you did, plus you had your babysitting business and school. Yes, Cat, we have given Tori and Jade more face time. That has to do with them being here in the house…always in the house. Never going anywhere, just here. But you! You are living on your own. We don't know what's going on because you're not here like them, all the damn time. So, would it help if we have more family dinners, or maybe I could come over and spend time with you?" I asked, and smiled at her. She looked at me with dazed eyes. I could almost see the wheels spinning in her head as she turned over what I had said to her. Finally, she nodded once and came back from where ever her mind had taken her.

"I never thought of it that way. I guess I do match with Robin. After Sam and I get married, we were going to see if we could adopt her," she tells me. And her trembling slowed down and she was able to look me in the eye.

"Adopting is a big step, and she does have a lot of issues. Plus, what about Robbie? He may have something to say about that. And when did you get engaged?!" I was getting excited. Two more of my daughters were getting married. Wow, Jade was right. This family really was messed up, all of the kids marrying each other.

"Sam asked me the other night, and I said yes. But I'm scared. I don't know how to be a good wife," she told me. I placed on hand on her knee and smiled warmly.

"Good. You should be scared. If you weren't then I would worry. If you have any troubles come talk to me. I'll help you."

"Or Tori," she said in a small voice. I laughed and gave her knee a squeeze.

"Tori hasn't started being a wife yet. They live here, with mommy and daddy." Cat grinned at this and giggled. "No Cat, they are the ones playing house." I gesture toward the house.

"Um, I get the feeling you want Tori and Jade to move out. Not that it's a bad idea. In fact, I personally think it's a great idea for you to tell them to find their own place. It would be the motherly thing to do, don't you think? I mean, why drop hints when you can just be up front with them and tell them what you told me. If they want to be a married couple, then they have to be on their own as a married couple and not play house," Cat told me and I had a feeling that she had a hidden reason for saying it, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. I stood up, and offered Cat my hand. She took it and I pulled her to her feet. My arm went around her shoulder as I walked her back in to the house.

We went inside to find Jade and Tori cleaning up the broken window. Jade had gotten a piece of cardboard to fit into the hole and Tori was sweeping up the glass. Cat wasted no time, grabbing the trash can and scurrying over to help out. Tori and Cat smiled while they worked, just not at each other. Even though there is a lot of talking that has to be done right now, the window mess is being cleaned up. I thought about saying something, but I went to the table. There will be time to soothe hurt feelings later.

I sat at the table and watched the girls clean, and thought about what Cat had said about being up front with Tori and Jade, and she did have a point. I have never been the type of parent that tried to trick my kids into doing anything, so why start now? And if they were going to be an adult married couple, then they would have to face things as adults. Me tricking them would not be a good start. I just wish I knew what to do for Cat, to make her feel more like part of the family.

Jade came over to sit, and let the other two finish up their mess, she announced loudly. "So, did you and Cat have a good talk?" she asked me. I thought about asking her if Cat had any mental problems, but how stupid is that? How could a person go through all that and come out unscathed?

"In part, yes. But for more, I would have to say no. She was very rude and disrespectful to me at first, but after I put her in her place, she opened up a little. Jade, did you know how her family treated her?" I asked, but something told me that Jade did indeed know. Jade seemed to know about everyone's back story. I may have to have a long talk with her so I don't go in blind again. What I saw today is something I need to talk to Jade about at a later date.

"Yes. Out of everyone, Cat and Beck are the ones I know the most about. I have known them the longest, and of course, I dated Beck for two years. So we talked a lot. What did she tell you?" Her gaze was sharp, like she was ready to attack. I'm not sure who she would attack. I guess that she's so used to being on her guard about Cat that she doesn't even know that she's ready to attack.

"She told me that her parents used her as a tool to make her brother better. And when that went south, they cast her aside, and treated her like a piece of crap." I could only shake my head in disgust. I can definitely understand that readiness to attack in Cat's name.

"So she didn't get into the deep stuff. We were in middle school and her parents took off, leaving her alone. They took her brother to some hospital back east and left some money on dining room table for her. They were gone for two months. She was able to get her Nana to come to school so they would get off her back about having her parents come in to talk to the teacher. I wanted to talk to my parents, to see if she could stay with us, but I hadn't seen them for weeks. You see Mom, Cat has a fear of being left. Sure, now her brother is doing somewhat better, but he can never be trusted to live on his own. So he lives with his parents." She shook her head and looked over to Cat and Tori. They were sweeping the last of the glass into the trash, and they still weren't talking. But the angry looks were gone. I turn my gaze back to Jade.

"I just want to help her. How can I do that?"

"Just show her that you are really here for her, and you are not going to go anywhere. Mom, everyone that has ever said they would help Cat has walked away from her. Her parents are just dick weeds, to be nice, and even her Nana has walked away. As soon as Sam moved in, Cat's Nana was out the door to live in that cemetery waiting room. And I hate to bring it up again, but we were in that damn accident, and no one even looked at her twice to see if she was alright after PT," Jade said, and I had to hold back my laugh at her description of a retirement home. I just didn't know where to start with Cat. I didn't want to say that she was far too damaged for help, but I can sure the hell say I was in over my head on this.

"Should I get her into see someone, maybe even get her on some pills? I mean, I think I'm over my head on this." Jade let out a small laugh, which was the last thing I was expecting.

"Mom, this is something I have to tell Tori now and again, and now I know where she gets it. You're over thinking it. All you have to do is be there for her. As you can tell, Cat never had a real childhood, so just make a day that is just you and her. Go for ice cream, or to the mall, or hell, take her to work with you. I wouldn't take her into court with you, you both might end up in jail. But maybe on a weekend you and Dad can take her to Disneyland. I know for a fact she has never been there, and she would love that you two took time just for her," Jade told me and I started to see how much of a child Cat still was, even at eighteen, and that made me so sad. She was about to get married and she still hasn't finished growing up yet.

"I just hope that everything works out for her. And with Sam and her getting married, things can become very hard really quick for Cat," I said, and the look on Jade's face told me that she didn't know something. Oops, I think I let a secret out.

"Cat's what?" Jade gasped.

**A/N The title is from Pink. I did not get permission for the use of this title.**


End file.
